WAR DEBTS AND REPARATIONS

Evening Star, Issue 20981, 21 December 1931, Page 9

WAR DEBTS AND REPARATIONS

AMERICAN HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES MORATORIUM APPROVED Press Association-By Telegraph-Copyright. • WASHINGTON, December 18. President Hoover’s war debt moratorium has been approved by the House by 317 votes to 100. It now goes to the Senate for completion and ratification. An amendment included placing on record that the House is opposed to the cancellation or reduction of Europe’s war debts to the United States. The Administration has proposed revision as a measure separate from the moratorium. BRITISH NOTE TO FRANCE PARIS, December 19. The British Note to France explaining her attitude on war debts and reparations emphasises that British loans to Germany since the war have kept Germany solvent and Europe stable. France’s reparations from Germany have been paid from money lent by Britain to the Berlin Government. THE GERMAN SITUATION AMERICAN FINANCIAL INTERESTS. WASHINGTON, December 18. Mr R. P. Lament, Secretary of Commerce, before the Senate Committee, said that the seriousness of the German situation was exaggerated beyond the realm of common sense. Ninety per cent, of the American hanks participated in financing Germany, and though there was a cumbersome amount of short-term German credit in the United States it really did not endanger the 'American hanks. The largest holding was £4,000,000, and the hank which held that was so large that it did not constitute a menace. Morgan’s alone had floated loans for sixteen foreign Governments since the war, totalling £340,000,000. Of this huge total £275,000,000 was still outstanding. France had got £60,000,000, and had repaid nearly half. Mr Mitchell, in his testimony, said the heavy yoke of war debts was causing increasing unrest in Germany, and to force the as yet unborn generations to bear a burden for which they were not responsible would bring rebellion. He declared he was not preaching a doctrine of cancellation, bub he agreed that only a miracle could avert the necessity for a further moratorium at the end of the present one. Discussing foreign loan flotations, Mr Mitchell -said that the National City 'Bank had handled 1,071,855,000d0l in bonds since the war, and on these it had made a net profit amounting to 13,392,502d01. It had also participated in the syndication of 3,260,407,OOOdol in foreign securities on which the net profits amounted to 11,463,501d01.